The Girl
by EmiG6
Summary: A normal girl walks through the halls of her high school, she attends classes and even trips over a crack in the tile- why is she so surprised when Ichigo Kurosaki stops to help her?


I promise guys- my other stories will be updated soon! I have not given up on them! College has presented a variety of new distractions including a boyfriend. I dont want to blame him for my delay, but lets be honest here- he is my main distraction.

I beg for your forgiveness- unlikely update will be up within a few days!

* * *

She went through every day as a shell. Her head hung low. Her uniform was perfectly tucked in and ironed. No one ever talked to her. No one even looked her way. Her traditionally Japanese black hair was straight, but her untrimmed bangs covered her eyes. She wasn't particularly shy, but no one would ever listen. She wasn't particularly pretty, but she had seen worse. She wasn't particularly anything, and that was because no one would give her a chance to be anything. So she attended school, she looked out the window and took notes. She ate lunch on the outcroppings of the bigger groups. No one shared their food with her when they passed around their bento boxes. No one asked her who she had a crush on. No one asked to share notes with her. So she went through the motions, never questioning why she was different.

* * *

Until the day she fell down, tripped by a cracked tile that had managed to jut itself above the even surface. She smoothed out her skirt, head always bent down, but a hand entered her vision.

"You okay?" He had asked. She stared at his hand and then his face. He had a rough look to him, his eyebrows were scrunched together, and his hair was dyed. But he was the first person in a very long time to pay her any mind, so to her, he could be described as ruggedly handsome. If her just unfurrowed those eyebrows and allowed himself to smile without coming off as a sneer, then he would look positively charming. It would at least improve the gangster visage he gave off now.

"Hey, seriously, you okay? You've been staring at me for at least a minute straight now." He crouched down next to her, balancing on the balls of his feet. "Is it the hair? I promise its not dyed or anything- I'm not that bad of a guy, honestly." A weak smile had crept up on his face as he scratched the back of his head.

"Yes, well that's not all that evident by your appearance." She responded, mirroring that small smile.

"Yeah- well, its just the way I am- you want me to help you up or not?" The scowl came back, but it didn't scare her.

"Yes, thank you." She took his hand, so much bigger and warmer than her own. He lifted her up as if she didn't weigh a thing.

"See ya around. Watch where you step." And that was it, with a wave tossed over his shoulder, he was gone. He was gone, and she was invisible again.

* * *

"Hey, Ichigo, what kept you?" Rukia asked as he took his seat in front of her.

"Nothing." He responded flatly. He had never seen that girl at school before.

* * *

She was walking down the hallway between classes, trying to stay out of the way. Someone suddenly grabbed her shoulder, she was scared. For some reason grabbing her shoulder brought about the feeling of fear, and all she wanted was to disappear. And so she did. She broke away into the crowd of students, and the boy could not find her to return her fallen pen.

"Ishida, what are you waiting for?" Orihime asked. They had been about to go to their classroom for cleaning duty.

"I'm sorry, I thought I saw something." He kept the disappearing girl to himself, because for one as gifted as him, he did not want to admit he had lost sight of a simple girl.

* * *

It was dark, and cold. The girl kept pacing to keep warm. She rubbed her arms, careful not to ruffle her uniform too much. Her skirt didn't do much to help keep her warm. So she continued to pace and waited for the next day. Waiting in the hallways of the school as she did every night.

* * *

"Hey Orihime!" Ichigo called to his fellow carrot top, "Do you know a girl with black hair and uneven bangs?"

"Have you also seen that girl?" Uryu asked, eavesdropping into the conversation.

"Yeah, I bumbed into her the other day, and she must have dropped this charm on my books." He explained holding out a charm made of blue string with red beads.

"Um, I don't think so, and uneven bangs would stick out." Orihime explained, shifting closer to Ichigo.

"That's because she doesn't attend this school." Uryu said, shift his glasses.

"Then what would she be doing here?" Rukia asked, suddenly joining the circle.

"You know her too?" Orihime asked, turning to her friend.

"I bumped her shoulder in the hallway, and when I turned to apologize, she wasn't there."

"That's because she's a spirit." Uryu said, catching the group's attention.

"A spirit? Come on Ishida, don't you think I would notice?" Ichigo asked, peeved the Uryu would doubt his abilities.

"Please, Kurosaki, mind your temper. I couldn't even tell until I did a little research. Apparently the girl we have all have seen died over thirty years ago. She killed herself in the second floor girl's bathroom."

* * *

The girl paced that night as she always did. Back and forth down the hallways. A howl broke through the night, and for a different reason than before, she felt a fear that reverberated through her bones


End file.
